Its Always Noon in Newport

One of the things that I'm most excited about in moving to California are the new people we will meet. Everyone has a story.

Sunday of my weekend visit to LA, Alex and I decided to go down to Newport Beach before my flight back to KC. 

Our first stop was not so much a California tourist stop, as it was more of an Amy obsession. :)

Alex actually ordered something this time. He's being converted!!!!

We got our coffees and walked up and down the streets of Newport Beach. Its easy to catch the culture in Newport. Relax and enjoy your ..... Sugar Daddy's hard work. ;) haha Everyone seems to have the secret to financial success. 

We past a clock that had 12's in the place of all the numbers of the clock, with the phrase, "Its always noon in Newport". I loved it! The perfect slogan for a perfectly relaxed day. :)

I can't get over how comfortable I see us in this city; loving life, loving relaxing, and L-O-V-I-N-G the palm trees! Alex looks like he belongs in this picture. I love it. The palm trees, the building geometric shapes, and Alex smirking that I made him take this picture.. :) Love everything about it!

We continued down to the port where there were hundreds of yachts docked. The day was breezy and we relaxed watching the water and enjoying our coffee.

Just after taking this picture a man popped out of this boat. I felt a little creepy gawking at the boats so we said hello and told him that we liked his boat. His response was...surprising. "You mean my home. I live here." 

His boat's name is Little Drummer boy. He found it a little after his wife was taken by a terminal disease. He knew he had to have it. He sold off all of his belongings, gave the money to his children and charities, took a sailing class, and began to refurbish the boat. You know, you ask someone one or two questions about their life and its surprising but refreshing when they respond super honestly. 

He plans to rename the ship Second Star after she's complete. His wife always looked younger than she was. She claimed that after everyone was asleep, she would follow 'the second star to the right straight ahead til morning' for NeverNeverLand. This was her anti-aging scheme. :) So when her time on earth was ending she told her husband to find his way back to her following the second star from the right. So after she passed he found a passion for this boat and feels like it is where he is supposed to be; that she guided him here. This boat makes him happy and we had a nice time talking about the changes he plans to make to it.

It was a sweet story. So for all those out there that said that LA people are cold, shallow, and crazy, I think you are wrong. Crazy, maybe. But so far, I find them kind and interesting. :)

So we parted ways with our new friend and it was time for goodbyes and for me to head back to reality in Kansas City. :) Alex slipped 2 of my favorite things into my hands just incase I got sad on the drive to the airport...

and I headed off to the airport. Can't wait to move to LA and I don't have to head for the airport anymore. Until then, I'll be running up those cell minutes and frequenting Skype.
I'll see you soon Los Angeles!!! Can't wait for the big move!!!

1st Trip to L.A. with Tour Guide Alex

Last weekend I made my first trip to LA for some work, some apartment hunting, some tourist fun, and mainly to visit Alex. :)

First things first. I had to check out this place that everyone raves about. The infamous IN & OUT Burger

Delish! Check!

Now off for Apartment hunting.

Moving to LA is going to be so glamorous! I envision the perfect space that feels like home and has the beautiful warmth from the California sun, shining through the window.... Ah, yes...something like 

Well, after running the numbers of my budget, the perfect LA apartment for my budget looks more like

 

But the good news is that I think I found a nice place that hits somewhere in the middle. So with all the business of the weekend taken care of, it was time to see some sites!

One of the biggest surprises of the city for me was how it seems like everyone is living on top of each other. The highway is packed, apartment complexes are packed, restaurants are packed!

Okay! Sounds like its time for some open spaces. Off to hike up to the Hollywood sign.

And we made it to the top!!

Okay the exercise was great but guess what we found at the top of the mountain??!! That's right!!....

CELEB SITING!!

Yes, none other than the C-list Celeb, Alan Tudyk. He was hiking with some cute thing and his dog Raisin, that is smaller than Guinto. What man names his dog Raisin? Nevertheless, COUNT IT!! Celeb count officially at 1. Alex was a whole lot less entertained with the celeb siting...

and way more entertained with trying to catch the perfect shot as I kept slipping and falling on the way down the mountain

Yes, I fell twice. Whatev. You just gotta look good doing it...Fail and Fail...Oh well.

We came down off of the mountain and headed to the Chinese Theatre.

Turns out Alex has the same size hands as Matt Damon!

And I own Ms. Monroe Hands

We even saw a future star in a street show. What a little stud :)

There were a ton of crazies out there but with my stares at every single one of them, I was lookin like a crazy too I guess.

We had such a great weekend! But that was just Saturday! More from the weekend later. :)

Adventures Welcome!

It was an Adventure to go from

TO

I mean, they touch on the map but still!...It was nervy moving away from home for a city where I knew only 3 or 4 people! Its been so fun in Kansas though. :) Taking on a Kansas adventure brought great changes to my life. For example, I met a guy a year and a half ago that started the same Kansas Adventure. His Adventure was from

TO

We have been having SO much fun together since we met. We love having mini adventures together. We went to Denver for snowboarding with friends last year.

Then Alex decided that I could use some outdoor fun. Not gonna lie, this took some convincing. We went hiking and camping. Yes, that's right! Sleeping outdoors the WHOLE night!

We even saw our favorite teams play each other in STL! We won't mention who won this game because it wasn't the Cardinals...We got our revenge later in the year. ;)

So this year we have a new adventure. Our company is sending us to sunny

The biggest surprise is that BIG YELLOW didn't send us to some desert in the middle of nowhere. Its in Los Angeles!! We are sooo excited. There are so many Adventures to take on. We plan to do something new and exciting every weekend of our year. So I've started this blog so that our family and friends can keep up with our Hollywood Happenings! :) 

Can't wait to share our year with you! It may be through this blog or it may be when you come visit us!! :)

Alex & Amy

and this is about to be our year in LA!!!